What kind of social class
conflicts does the text reveal? That is, what sort of conflict will likely
arise when a member of the working class and the middle/upper middle class
collide? (An example from Oleanna: Carol confronts John again
and again about his language, or jargon, consistently asking him to define his
terms. John uses academic jargon without even noticing he’s doing so; his
complicated lexicon is so internalized that he seemingly doesn’t notice that he
may be excluding students by failing to explain terms. Thus, the class conflict
at hand involves the use of specialized language, usually acquired only via a
college education, versus the use of the vernacular (everyday, ordinary
language). Is John’s jargon elitist? Exclusionist? Does it afford him a
particular kind of power? Would Carol or someone like her (since we know that,
ultimately, she understands John just fine) be considered oppressed by the
language of the dominant educated elite? Another possibility: the “group’s”
ideology versus John’s/ideology of the university.)
***Several of the articles I
posted deal particularly with language and power in Oleanna.
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